


The Voice of Night Vale

by Cats_Dont_Float



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: M/M, POV Carlos (Welcome to Night Vale)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-06-20 02:02:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15523620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cats_Dont_Float/pseuds/Cats_Dont_Float
Summary: Carlos has been sent to study the most scientifically interesting community in the US. He's been needing a break from everything, and this seems like the perfect thing. But the small, desert community of Night Vale is not exactly what he expected.(Okay this is basically Carlos's POV of everything that happened except I gave up trying to stick to the canon storyline! Enjoy!)





	1. Welcome to Night Vale

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to rewrite one of my old fics that never got finished, but this time it's quite different and I've decided to go along with some of my own storylines instead of completely sticking to canon But don't worry, I've kept some of the best ( and most important) scenes from the podcasts and simply written them from Carlos's POV. I hope you enjoy!!

"The most scientifically interesting community in the US!" Carlos exclaims, throwing his arms wide in a gesture of excitement, "And I've chosen you to come with me!" He adds, as if the people he's addressing don't already know this. The small group of scientists sitting in front of him began to murmur to each other in a mixture of wonder and interest. "The trip leaves in two weeks, I hope you'll all decide to come along!"  
"Sounds fun, I'm in," One woman says almost instantly.  
"Good to hear," Carlos smiles, "I hope the rest of you will be just as keen as Nilanjana here!"

Carlos had, of course, chosen the best scientists he knew to invite on the trip. Nilanjana had been his best friend since university, and he knew she was always up for an opportunity to do some interesting and important research. Then there was Rochelle. Most of the time, she was loud, excitable and a lot of fun to be around. But Carlos often saw her sitting quietly, focused hard on research and science, and he knew she was someone who would be valuable to have on the team. Mark and Dave were twin brothers, who Carlos had been introduced to about a year ago. They weren't always the most focused people, and Carlos had seen them do some ridiculous things, but they had experience in investigating strange towns. And, of course there was Stan. Carlos was terrified of Stan, though he would never admit it. The man invented ridiculous things and was always ready to throw himself into something dangerous. The last scientist was a woman called Lusia. Carlos hadn't known her for long. All he really knew was that she had some sort of obsession with potatoes. He liked her though. She was sweet and kind, and Carlos had thought she might enjoy the trip.

So, there they were: his group of chosen scientists. They were an odd bunch, but together, they had all the combined knowledge that Carlos thought they could ever possibly need.

********************

It's two weeks later that they head to Night Vale. Carlos couldn't be happier to leave. For the first time in his life he can get away from his family, and his hometown, and do something that is completely independent from his old life. He's even more excited than he thought it was possible to be. He leads the small group of vehicles in his car, with Nilanjana in the front with him, and Rochelle in the back, surrounded by cardboard boxes and bags. Behind him, a line of two other cars and a small van contain the rest of the scientists and their belongings.  
"So, what's the deal with this town. Is it like, completely cut off from normal society or something?" Rochelle asks, from where she was leaning back in her seat, casually filing her nails.  
"Yeah, something like that," Carlos replies.   
"Interesting," Rochelle murmurs, "I've never been to the desert before,"  
"I don't think any of us have," Nilanjana points out.  
"Stan has," Rochelle tells her, "He told me yesterday,"  
"That man will always be a mystery to me!" Carlos laughs, peering at the map on his phone as he does so. "This map is really weird," he murmurs to himself, "It's like this place doesn't want to be found,"

As Carlos turns the car around several corners, Rochelle pushes her face up against the window and peers out in confusion.  
"We've been down this road before," She says eventually, once she's made sure she isn't imagining things.  
"Are you sure?" Carlos asks.  
"Definitely," she says with a nod, "I recognise that weird looking tree,"  
"Great," Carlos sighs, pulling over at the side of the road. The others pull over too, obviously having also noticed that something was wrong.   
"I'm getting out," Rochelle announces, stepping out of the car and almost falling over. "Ow, I can't walk in these shoes, my legs have no feeling in them," she mumbles under her breath.  
"We did tell you not to wear a dress and heels for a long car journey," Nilanjana sighs, hopping out of the car and slamming the door behind her. Rochelle rolls her eyes, whilst using one hand to brush dust off of her yellow dress, which looks ridiculously bright against her dark skin.

"Hey Carlos, dude, I think we're driving in circles!" Stan calls as he slides out of the van and strides towards them.  
"That's kind of why we've stopped," Carlos tells him, shaking his head in amusement.  
"Right," Stan nods. Mark and Dave head towards them from their car, with Lusia following from her own car, which was at the back of the group.  
"Hey, you folks okay?" Calls a voice, and a huge truck pulls up beside them. A woman leans out of the window.  
"We're looking for a place called Night Vale," Carlos explains. "The maps are all wrong," The woman screws her face up in confusion.  
"Well, you're heading the right way. Don't know why you're going to Night Vale though. The citizens aren't too fond of outsiders," She tells them.  
"We're scientists. We've been sent to research the place," Carlos explains.  
"Well good luck with that," she laughs, "Just follow this road, then turn left at the end. You'll start seeing weird purple signs with arrows and scorpions on them. Just follow them and you'll get there eventually. Not sure exactly how long it'll take you though, it's always different, you see," As she talks, she struggles with some strange device in her truck.  
"Thank you!" Carlos smiles, although he isn't sure exactly what she means when she says that the time is always different. "What's that?£" he adds, nodding towards the device.  
"Radio," she says, "When you're out on the road, recording yourself can be a good way of documenting what goes on. Well, I've got my things to deal with," she adds with a heavy sigh, "have fun in Night Vale!" she smiles, before the truck pulls away, the engine roaring loudly. Just before it disappears around a corner, Carlos sees the name of the company on the side of the truck: Bay and Creek Shipping. He thinks to himself that perhaps he'll call the company later and tell them how nice their driver is. He wishes he knew her name.

"Well, you heard the lady in the really loud truck," Dave says, "Follow the signs with scorpions on them!"  
"Are you sure she wasn't pranking us?" Nilanjana asks, "Surely no town uses signs like that to direct you there,"  
"Well, I guess we just have to wait and see," Carlos sighs, already heading back round to the car door. "We've really got no other choice," He adds, looking up at the sky, and noticing with a frown that the sun is beginning to set. He was hoping to get there before dark. As the others all climbed into their cars, he slowly began to drive.


	2. Chapter 2

"Look, scorpion sign!" Nilanjana shouts after a few minutes of driving. Slowing the car down, Carlos notices a purple sign, with the black outline of a scorpion on it, and a black arrow pointing to the right.  
"Huh, weird," Rochelle murmurs as Carlos turns in the direction that the sign is pointing, "The signs don't even have words on them!"  
"This is so exciting!" Carlos smiles, practically bouncing up and down in his seat.  
"Carlos, I think you need to calm down, sweetie," Nilanjana says with a fond smile.  
"Urgh, I always forget that you two have this weird, best friend bond thing going on," Rochelle adds from the back.  
"This could be the break I've been needing for years!" Carlos carries on, ignoring both of them, "Science is just so interesting, I feel like this town could be really awesome. What do you think the citizens are like? Do you think we'll be welcome there? I hope everyone's nice. I wonder if we'll make new friends? Do you think the people are as scientifically interesting as the town itself?"  
"Carlos, nobody can understand you when you talk so quickly," Nilanjana reminds him.  
"Oh, yeah," he says, sounding slightly guilty.  
"It's okay," Nilanjana smiles.

As Carlos drives, more and more of the weird signs flash past, until they are emerging from the small roads they've been following. There are suddenly no trees around them, and the landscape becomes desert very suddenly. And then, looming above them, is a huge white sign. Cracked purple letters read: WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE - IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY NOTHING AND DRINK TO FORGET! Carlos peers up the sign excitedly, before they drive past it.  
"So, I've got this lab rented out. And above it there are a bunch of rooms for us to stay in!" Carlos tells them excitedly.  
"You told us that before," Rochelle points out.  
"Oh," Carlos mumbles, "Well, just making sure you knew,"  
"That's okay," Nilanjana laughs and pats his shoulder heavily. The car turns suddenly round a corner.  
"Almost missed the turn," Carlos murmurs to himself, "Lab should be somewhere on the left. Huh, a pizza place. Ooh, the lab's next door!" The car pulls up suddenly, and Carlos throws his door open almost instantly. "Come on," he calls as he heads towards the lab and searches for the keys in his pocket.

"Hey, this is a nice place," says a voice behind him, and Stan appears, with a rucksack slung over his shoulder.  
"Yeah," Carlos replies, pulling out the keys and immediately deciding that he doesn't like the keyring that they are attached too. He'll have to buy a new one soon - maybe a science related one, that would be cool.  
"Carlos, are you gonna let us in?" Dave's voice pulls him from his thoughts.  
"Oh, yeah," he slides the key into the lock and opens the door, pushing it open and letting the others inside. They've dragged a few of their most important bags with them.  
"You forgot your bags," Nilanjana says, pushing two of his bags into his arms, "Luckily I can carry a lot of stuff," She adds before wandering inside, dragging her own bags behind. Carlos givers her a small smile before she walks away, and then follows her inside. He pushes the door shut, making sure he locks it so no one can follow them in, and finds the rest of his team. The lab is a huge room, with a few long tables in it, and several chairs scattered around.  
"So, where are the rooms?" Stan asks.  
"Through there I think," Carlos points at a door on the far side of the room, and the others instantly head towards it. Carlos stops for a minute and stands in the centre of the lab, taking it all in. He finally did it. He finally got away from his parent's house and his old life.  
"Carlos," Says a soft voice, and Nilanjana grabs his arm softly, "Come on, I think they're choosing bedrooms now," She leads him through the door, and up a flight of stairs.

Upstairs, there was a small corridor, leading to several rooms.  
"Nils," Rochelle calls, "You're sharing a room with me, right?"  
"Sure," Nilanjana smiles.  
"Awesome, we've got this one," Rochelle replies, throwing a bag through an open near her.  
"Okay, well Mark, Dave and I can all share this room here," Stan says, "That leaves two other rooms, one for Lusia and one for Carlos,"  
"Sounds good!" Lusia smiles, heading into the room that has been left aside for her.  
"yeah, that's cool," Carlos adds, pushing open the door next to him and peering into the room. It's quite large, with a double bed, wardrobe and set of drawers in it. There's a window on one wall, looking out over the town. "Nice," he murmurs to himself, dropping his bags in a pile and moving to look out of the window. The sun had almost completely disappeared from view, and Carlos can't help thinking that the sun has set quite early that day. Shrugging his shoulders, he sighs and thinks that it must be because the long drive has made time seem weird.  
"Carlos! Come check out the kitchen!" Calls Rochelle's voice from outside of his room. he smiles to himself, and heads out to join the others.

The kitchen is also quite large, with a small table in the centre. There's a kettle, a microwave, a fridge and an oven, plus cupboards with a few slightly cracked plates and mugs in them. Luckily, Carlos brought more with him.  
"Wow, this place has a lot of furniture and stuff already in it," Stan says as he pulls a glass out of a cupboard and fills it with tap water.  
"Yeah, the guy renting it out is pretty good," Carlos agrees, "Nils, did you bring the bag of food from the car?"  
"Yep," she nods, gesturing to where she's dropped it on the table.  
"Cool, who wants hot chocolate?" Carlos sighs.  
"I mean, it's a bit childish, but sure!" Rochelle laughs, already digging through the bag to find it.  
"Nothing wrong with being childish sometimes," Dave adds, already filling the kettle with water. "Now, let's all have a nice warm drink to celebrate our arrival, and then I think we all need to sleep,"  
"Agreed," Stan laughs, and Carlos has to admit that it's nice to see everyone so calm and casual for once in their crazy lives.


	3. Chapter 3

Two mugs of hot chocolate later, Carlos is feeling significantly sleepier, and he's ready for bed.  
"I'm going to bed," he declares eventually, standing up and heading for the door. "Goodnight," he calls over his shoulder, and hears it echoed back from the others. Stumbling along the corridor, he eventually reaches his room and steps inside, pressing the door shut and standing for a moment, leaning slightly on the door.He stops and listens. His room is a lot quieter than the kitchen was, which is nice, but he can still hear the soft murmur and chatter from a few rooms away, which is comforting in a strange sort of way. he smiles to himself, and then heads for his bed. Not even bothering to change his clothes, he falls straight asleep.  
**********  
Carlos wakes up, and it takes him a few seconds to remember where he is. Once he's finally worked it out, a small smile spreads across his face. Sitting up, he blinks a few times as the sunlight hits his tired eyes, and he wishes he'd shut the curtains before falling asleep the night before. The sound of voices reaches his ears suddenly, and he recognises Rochelle's voice coming from right outside his room. He can't quite make out what she's saying. Dragging himself over to the door, he throws it open and catches sight of Rochelle chasing Stan into the kitchen whilst shouting something at his retreating back. Rolling his eyes, Carlos shuts his door again and locks it, before looking for some clothes to change into.

He finds a pair of jeans and a shirt with a science pun on it. Once he is changed, Carlos heads back towards the kitchen.  
"Stan stole my clothes while I was in the shower!" Rochelle cries the second that Carlos steps into the room.  
"Really?" Carlos sighs, casting a disappointed look in the direction of Stan, who is sitting on the kitchen side(despite there being perfectly good chairs available) and looking particularly proud of himself.  
"It was too tempting," Stan explains, as if that somehow excuses his behaviour.  
"Right, we need to write up some house rules, I think," Carlos sighs. "Stay right there Stan, Rochelle, gather as many people as you can find," he tells them, and then strides quickly to his room and gathers his pad of paper and a pen. 

When he gets back, all of the others are watching him curiously. "Good job," he tells Rochelle, who gives him a grin, "Right, we need to make some house rules so everything stays peaceful," Carlos explains. "First one, no stealing people's clothes when they're in the shower!" he writes that on a piece of paper, under the title: HOUSE RULES.  
"Is this necessary?" Stan sighs  
"Yes," Carlos tells him. "Has anyone else got any ideas?"  
"Only do experiments in the lab, not up here," Lusia points out.  
"Yes!" Carlos shouts, before slapping one hand over his mouth, "Sorry for shouting. That's a good one," he adds it to the list.  
"Don't walk into someone else's room without permission," Dave suggests. Carlos nods and adds it to the list.  
"What about: make sure all the jobs and chores are evenly spread?" Nilanjana asks.  
"Yeah, we might have to make a schedule for chores and stuff sometime later this week as well," Carlos agrees."Right, that's it for now, if you have any other ideas, talk to me and we'll all decide whether to add it or not. Does that sound fair?" the others nod happily. Carlos smiles. "Okay, who's up for a shopping trip? We need food," they all volunteer.  
"Looks like we're all going," Dave laughs, "We all need to know where the store is anyway,"  
*********  
The food store is hard to find, but once they've all parked in the parking lot, Carlos leads the group in, shopping list in hand.  
"Okay, let's try not to draw too much attention to ourselves," Carlos says quietly, already feeling uncomfortably as a few other shoppers stare at them curiously.  
"Sure," Rochelle says with a nod, whilst the others agree as well. They head further into the store, throwing things they need into the cart that Dave is pushing along.  
"Ooh, we need coffee and tea," Nilanjana adds, "Is that on the list?"  
"Yep," Carlos replies, "Although I had forgotten to add sugar, which we also need,"  
"Got it," Rochelle smiles, reaching to the shelf next to her and grabbing a huge bag of sugar, "There are a lot of us, and I know how much sugar you have in your coffee," she explains when Carlos shoots a questioning look at the size of the bag. he gives a shrug and steps aside to let her throw it into the cart.  
"Cereal!" Stan shouts as he reaches a shelf full of boxes of cereal.  
"Ssh," Carlos hisses, "Trying not to attract attention, remember?"  
"Too late," Nilanjana says, nudging Carlos's shoulder and nodding her head in the direction of a man who is striding straight to wards them.

He has hair that is dark brown, messy and slightly too long, as if he just doesn't bother to style it. His fashion sense is so horrific that even Carlos (who wears only science shirts, jeans and flannel shirts) can't bare too look at him for too long.  
"Hi, you must be the new scientists in town!" the man exclaims in a scratchy voice.  
"You know about us?" Carlos asks.  
"Oh yeah, Cecil's already been talking about you on his show," The man replies.  
"Who's Cecil?" Asks Rochelle.  
"My brother in law," The man says, with a hint of pride in his voice, "He doesn't like me much, but he's super important to this town. He's the Voice of Night Vale. He hosts the community radio,"  
Carlos smiles at him, "Well, nice to meet you, uh. What was your name?"  
"Steve Carlsberg," the man replies, "Well, I'd better be going. If you've ever got any questions about anything, feel free to come and chat to me anytime!"  
"We will," Carlos tells him, smiling again, "Come on you guys, we've got food to buy," he calls to the other scientists, who have spread out in the aisle and are throwing random things into the cart.

The scientists set off down the aisle, with Carlos occasionally shouting out items from the list and sending people to get them.  
"We should have a proper party tonight," Rochelle suggests eventually, grabbing wine off of the shelf and throwing it into the cart.  
"Uh, why?" Carlos asks, taking the wine back out and inspecting it. After a second, he gives in and puts it back in the cart.  
"To celebrate our arrival," Rochelle beams, "Have a bit more fun before we have to start properly working tomorrow,"  
"That's not a bad idea," Stan says, with a slightly evil grin on his face.  
"Oh dear," Carlos sighs with a laugh, "Fine, we'll have a party tonight. But I have stuff to do this afternoon, so you guys have to plan it all yourselves,"  
"Easy," Nilanjana laughs, "You know we throw a great party!"  
"Yes, just don't burn the lab down," Carlos tells them all sternly as they head to the check out.  
"That was one time!" Nilanjana laughs, "I've only ever started one fire at a party once!"  
"Just be careful," Carlos warns them, "Meanwhile, I've got to do some presentation thing for city council. Tell them why we're here and all that,"


	4. Chapter 4

Putting all of the shopping away takes a while. It turns out that there isn't enough space in the kitchen cupboards and freezer as Carlos had thought. Finally, though, they manage to get everything tidied away.

A while later, Nilanjana finds Carlos sat in a corner of the living room, flicking through sheets of paper.  
"I have a question," she says softly, sliding down onto the floor next to him. Carlos says nothing, and continues reading the notes scribbled on the paper. "Why are you sitting on the floor and not on the perfectly good sofas?"  
"Got to concentrate," Carlos mumbles, and it's not clear whether that was his response or if he's trying to tell her to go away.  
"When's the presentation?" she asks, trying to help him calm down.  
"I've got an hour," Carlos replies. "I've got all my notes. Just need to be confident,"  
"You've got this," she smiles, "Trust me. You're good at presentations,"  
Carlos smiles back at her, "Okay, I've got this," he says with a nod to himself, "I'm going to go now, and get there early,"  
"Good idea," says another voice, and Rochelle appears, holding out a hand to help pull him up onto his feet, "Have fun,"  
***********  
Carlos reaches city hall half an hour early, and settles himself on a seat, biting the inside of his cheek slightly to ease his nerves. As he sits there, waiting, he sees a few people walk in. They stare at Carlos curiously, scribbling things on notepads every now and again. Their stares make Carlos feel slightly uncomfortable, so he goes back to rereading his notes again. He hears heavy footsteps on the floor, and assumes that it's the strange men. Instead, when he looks up, he sees a kind-looking old woman standing next to him, smiling widely.

"Hello dear," she smiles, holding out a plate of muffins in his direction, "Here, they're good for the nerves,"  
"Oh, thank you," Carlos says quietly, taking one slowly.  
"I'm afraid there's no salt in them," she apologises, before lowering her voice to a whisper to say, "the angels took mine for a godly mission,"  
"Angels?" Carlos asks quite loudly, and almost instantly the strange people at the back of the hall look over at him, murmuring amongst themselves.  
"Shh," she hisses, "it's illegal to acknowledge them!"  
"Oh," Carlos has nothing else to say, and so instead takes a bite of the muffin. It's goo,d despite the lack of salt.  
"I'm Josie, by the way,"  
"Carlos," he mumbles once he's swallowed the bite of muffin, "Nice to meet you," he holds out a hand and she shakes it quickly.  
"Nice to meet you too. Looks like people are arriving," she tells him.  
"It's too early," Carlos panics.  
"People always turn up at the wrong time here," Josie says with a shake of her head, "It can get frustrating," she laughs, "Good luck dearie,"

People file into the room quickly. Carlos spots Steve Carlsberg in the crowd. Steve raises a hand and waves in Carlos's direction. Carlos gives a small wave in return. There's a sudden murmuring to the left of the room, and he sees a few people move to let someone else through. Carlos peers curiously at the man, and finds himself smiling.

The man is dressed in an outfit of black and purple, looking quite formal. There are white, black and purple tattoos curling all around his arms. Blonde hair falls over his forehead in waves, and he peers out from under his hair in a slightly adorable way. Carlos can't help wondering who this man is.  
"You can start now!" shouts a voice suddenly, and Carlos can't work out who said it.  
"Okay," Carlos says, and flinches slightly as the microphone in front of him makes his voice echo through the room, "Uh, my name is Carlos, and I'm leading the team of scientists who are here to research and investigate this town. This is, in my opinion, the most scientifically interesting community in the US!"  
***********  
Eventually, Carlos's presentation is over, and he steps down into the crowd. A few people have stayed behind to talk to each other. A small crowd has gathered around Josie, who is passing out muffins and talking about angels very loudly, making some people quite uncomfortable. Carlos steps into the crowd, and immediately sees Steve speeding towards him.  
"Good presentation," Steve says with a warm smile.  
"Uh, thank you," Carlos smiles back.  
"Excuse me, Steve," says a voice behind him, and the man Carlos notices steps forward, "I need to talk to Carlos. For the radio," he adds with emphasis.  
"Carlos, this is my brother in law, Cecil," Steve says, rolling his eyes, and then stepping away to talk to Josie.

Cecil steps forward, smiling widely.  
"Hi," Carlos manages to say with a small wave.  
"Hi, I'm Cecil," Cecil introduces himself, and Carlos can't help getting lost in how deep and calm Cecil's voice is, "Your presentation was really good!" Cecil adds, and his voice suddenly becomes higher. Carlos can't help grinning. Immediately, Cecil blushes (Carlos can't work out why) and steps backwards. "You know, I think I need to go, but your presentation was really good. You should listen to my radio show later, I'll be talking all about it!"  
"Bye," Carlos calls as he walks away. There's a fluttering feeling in his stomach, but he ignores it, pushing it away.  
*********  
Carlos hears the music before he even reaches the lab. He can hear it as he walks past the pizza restaurant - Big Rico's. He peers up at the sign reading: NO ONE DOES A SLICE LIKE BIG RICO'S! Then he eventually reaches the lab. Cautiously, he pushes the door open, and is hit by a wave of loud noise.  
"Carlos!" Rochelle calls as he steps inside. She's wearing a dark green dress and holding a drink in her hand. Carlos rolls his eyes and shuts the door behind him.  
"I can hear the noise from up the end of the road," Carlos tells her.  
"How did it go?" Nilanjana asks.   
"Good," Carlos smiles, "Ooh, I met the radio host!"  
"Is he all old and boring like most radio show hosts?" Dave asks. Mark follows behind him, shouting something at Stan.  
"No actually, he's about my age. Young, and modern, and quite handsome I guess," Carlos begins to trail off, blushing slightly.  
"He's got a crush!" Lusia states.  
"Definitely," Rochelle nods.  
"Let's just party for now," Nilanjana says, realising Carlos might not want to be having this conversation. "Someone get Carlos a drink!" Almost instantly, Stan shoves a plastic cup into Carlos's hand. Carlos sips it and then instantly spits it back out, his throat burning.  
"What is this?" he cries.  
"My own special mix," Stan replies, before he walks away, seemingly disappearing amongst the small crowd.  
"Uh," Carlos sighs, and then takes another swig of the drink. Well, if hes going to join their party, he might as well go all out.


	5. Chapter 5

Carlos wakes up with a headache. There's loud noise echoing from somewhere within the building but he can't work out exactly where it's coming from or what the noise is. Sitting up, he blinks a few times to clear his blurry vision. He's not in his own room. He realises that pretty quickly. He soon works out that he's on the floor of the kitchen.  
"Morning," says a voice, and Nilanjana drops down onto the floor next to him.  
"Why am I in the kitchen?" Carlos groans, running a hand through his hair and wincing as he realises that his hair seems to be coated in something sticky.  
"I wish I remembered," she laughs, laying down on her back.  
Carlos lays down next to her. "Okay, do you know what's wrong with my hair?" Carlos asks.  
"Oh, yes I do know that!" Nilanjana looks proud of her self for remembering. "Stan poured an entire bottle of wine over your head,"  
"Gross," Carlos replies.  
Nilanjana rolls over onto her stomach and peers at his hair, "Yeah you should really wash that out," she decides, before turning away and pressing her face into the cold tiled floor.  
"Next time you guys plan a party, I'm not coming," Carlos tells her, struggling to his feet.  
"Whatever," he heard her mumble as he wandered out of the kitchen.

As he walks down the hallway, he realises the loud noise is coming from Stan's room. Of course it is. With a groan, he pushes Stan's door open and sees him nailing two pieces of wood together with a rusty hammer.  
"Stan, could you maybe not do that right now," Carlos groans as each noise reaches his ears.  
"Sorry Carlos," Stan says dropping the hammer, "Was just trying to fix my bed,"  
"What happened to your bed?" Carlos cries, and then wishes he hand't shouted so loudly, as the noise makes his head so much worse.  
"Dave jumped on it," Stan replies.  
"Wonderful," Carlos huffs, "I'm going for a shower. Oh, and in the future, please try not to pour things on me," he adds before heading out of the room.  
"Sorry!" Stan shouts from behind him.

"Is that Stan making that noise?" says a voice, and Carlos sees Lusia stepping out of her room.  
"Yeah," Carlos tells her.  
"I don't understand how he's not ill. He drank so much last night!" Lusia sighed.  
"I never understand Stan," Carlos agrees, and then steps into the bathroom and locks the door behind him. Peering at himself in the mirror, Carlos sighs in annoyance. He really wishes Stan hadn't poured that wine over him. He hates having stuff in his hair, it makes him feel weird. He grabs a towel, and turns on the water, watching as the steam begins to fill the room. He steps into the shower, and tries not to think about how much his head is hurting.

A while later, he steps out of the bathroom, and rushes to his room to change into some clean clothes. After, he heads back to the kitchen, and finds Nilanjana still there, sitting at the table.  
"Heya, get everything out of your hair?" She asks.  
"I hope," he sighs.  
"Wait a minute," she says, searching in her pocket, and then pulls out a packet of lavender chewing gum. "There, I knew I had it somewhere," she smiles triumphantly, and throws it at him. Carlos catches it and smiles at her.  
He pops a piece of gum in his mouth and feels himself relaxing. "Thanks,"  
"No problem," Nilanjana smiles, "Rule number one of being friends with Carlos: always have his gum on hand,"  
"You're the best friend ever," Carlos tells her, "You know, we were supposed to start doing science today, but that's just not going to happen,"  
"Yeah, there's no way I'm doing any experiments today," Nilanjana tells him, "I love science but there's no way I'm working today,"  
"I need to get out of the building," Carlos sighs, "I hate being indoors for too long,"  
"You could go investigate the town," Nilanjana suggests, "You know, you could look around and see what's out there,"  
"Yeah, maybe I will," Carlos smiles.  
**********  
A while later, Carlos heads out of the lab, wandering through the streets with no real plan to where he's going. He tells himself he's doing science just by loo around and finding out more about the town. After a while, he wanders past a bowling alley. Next to it is a diner, decorated purely with mint green neon lights. Something about the place draws him in. He can tell the minute that he walks through the door that it is probably not the nicest place in town. The air smells like burning rubber and cooking bread, and something is playing from speakers but it's too crackly to be properly heard.  
"Hi!" shouts an excited sounding voice, and a waitress appears from out of nowhere. She looks mostly human, but branches are growing from all over her body, fruit hanging from some of them. Carlos takes a step back in alarm, reaching out one hand to grab the door handle behind him. "Oh, you must be the new scientist, Carlos!" She smiled, "Well, I'm Laura, welcome to the Moonlite Allnite Diner!"  
"Hi," Carlos murmurs. "Uh, I was just looking around and..."  
"Stay and try the pie!" Laura insists.  
"Oh, okay," Carlos agrees, and lets her show him to a small table in the corner. She smiles and then leaves him alone for a while. He picks up a menu from the table, and peers at the list of strange foods.  
  
Only minutes later, Laura appears again. "What can I get you?" she beams.  
"Just coffee please," Carlos says.  
"Oh come on. You have to try the invisible pie!" she persuades him.  
"Fine," he sighs eventually.  
"Good!" she replies with a grin, "One slice of invisible pie and a coffee coming right up!" She rushes off, hitting her branches hitting tables and chairs. Carlos sighs and leans back in his chair looking around him. Sitting at the counter, a woman is noting things down on a clipboard. In the parking lot, two men seem to be arguing over a crate in the trunk of their car. The crackly sound from the speakers gets louder, and Carlos recognises it as the town radio show. A familiar voice is talking, and remembers Cecil, who met the day before. He finds himself listening intently, even though half of the things that Cecil is saying make absolutely no sense to him.  
  
He's pulled from his thoughts by Laura setting a plate and a mug down loudly on his table, and then wandering away happily. There is nothing on the plate, but when he stabs a fork int eh general direction of it, he feels it hit something that feels vaguely like pie.He puts the fork back down and picks up the coffee instead, letting out a sigh of relief when he discovers that at least the coffee in Night Vale is normal. The radio show has finished, and there's strange music playing now instead. He sips the coffee for a few minutes, and then stabs the pie again, deciding whether or not it's safe to eat. This is definitely something he needs to do research about.  
Someone enters the diner, and there's soft murmuring, as if the town people recognise the person, but Carlos is too intrigued by the invisible pie to pay much attention to it.  
"Carlos?" says that familiar voice, and Carlos instantly looks up, jumping back slightly as he sees Cecil standing there. "Can I sit down?"  
"Uh, sure," Carlos says, still stabbing his pie. Cecil smiles and sits down opposite him. Carlos notices that Cecil isn't wearing the same dark clothes from yesterday. Instead, his clothes that day are bright and colourful, and slightly horrible.  
"Struggling with the pie?" Cecil says with a smile. "Most new people to Night Vale struggle with it."  
"Yeah, a bit," Carlos admits with a nervous smile.  
Cecil laughs softly, "Trust me, it's good!" Carlos nods and takes a bite of the pie. There's no real taste, but somehow it's nice.  
"Huh, you were right," Carlos says.  
"Told you!" Cecil grins. A waitress walks over, places a drink in front of Cecil and walks away silently. Cecil takes it with a nod and drinks it quickly.  
"How come you're here? I just heard you on the radio." Carlos asks.  
"Time's weird in Night Vale," Cecil says with a shrug, "I did my show like half an hour ago. I thought I'd come here for a drink afterwards."  
"Weird," Carlos mumbles.  
"I heard you guys had a party last night," Cecil says, "Was it fun?"  
"Oh yeah, we always throw good parties.You should come along next time," Carlos tells him.  
Cecil's eyes light up, "I'd love to!" he grins.  
Carlos pushes back a random fluttering in his stomach, trying to ignore, "Cool," he smiles, "Uh, how do I pay here?"  
Cecil laughs, "I'll show you!" He says, and then scoops up Carlos's mug and hisses, "Check please!" into it. "Lift the sugar packets," he tells Carlos.  
Carlos does as he's told, and finds two check under the tray of sugar packets: one for his pie and coffee and one for Cecil's drink. "How?" he asks softly.  
"That's just the way it is," Cecil says, before glancing at a purple watch on his wrist and sighing, "Well, if time's working properly right now then I should probably be leaving," he sighs, "It was good to see you," he adds, "I love your hair by the way." Then he stands up and walks away, gone as quickly as he appeared.  
Carlos leans back in his chair and laughs to himself softly for no reason. Some part of him feels weirdly happy.


	6. Chapter 6

"How was the town?" Nilanjana asks the minute Carlos steps into the lab. She's sitting on one of the chairs with her feet up on a desk.  
"Good, I went into the diner and ate some pie that was invisible," Carlos says.  
"Was it just an empty plate?" Nilanjana asks.  
"Nope, it was actually there," Carlos laughs, "It sounds impossible but I promise you it's true!"  
"Huh, we should all go there sometime!" Nilanjana decides.  
"Definitely," Carlos smiles, flopping down onto the chair next to her. "Hey, I met Cecil, the radio host again!"  
"You're blushing," Nilanjana points out. "Oh my god Carlos do you have a crush?" she practically shouts, sitting up straighter in her chair.  
"Shhh!" Carlos hisses.  
"Hey, sorry," Nilanjana says.  
"Look, you know I don't just suddenly get crushes on people, I have to get to know them and stuff." Carlos says, "But yeah, he's kind of cute I guess."  
"Hey, I won't say anything to the others," Nilanjana smiles, realising he probably doesn't want to talk about it. "But you can always talk to me!"  
"I know," Carlos smiles.  
**************  
That night, Carlos has just gotten into bed when Nilanjana races into his room.  
"I googled his picture!" she says excitedly as Carlos sits up and looks at her in confusion.  
"Who?" Carlos asks, caught off guard by her sudden appearance.  
"Cecil's, silly!" she hisses, sitting down on the edge of his bed. "He is cute!"  
Carlos stares at her for a second, and then his face practically melts into a smile, "I know!" he grins, laying back down, picking up a pillow and covering his face with it.  
There's the sound of movement, and when he looks again Nilanjana has grabbed one of the many blankets off of his bed and is laying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. "So, tell me about him," she says.  
Carlos rolls his eyes and then sighs, "He's really strange. His choice in clothes is... interesting,"  
"Night Vale is strange," Nilanjana agrees, wriggling around on the ground. Carlos throws a pillow to her and it lands directly on her face. "Thanks," she mumbles, before picking it up, laying it on the floor and dropping her head onto it. "Do you remember when we used to do this all the time as kids? We'd go to one of our houses and just stay up all night talking about things."  
"Yeah," Carlos says with a smile.  
"You cried the night you came out as gay to me," Nilanjana adds.  
"And you just laughed at me," Carlos grins.  
"Yeah, because you were so stupid. I'd known for ages, I assumed you just knew that I knew," Nilanjana laughs.  
"I guess I knew," Carlos sighs, "I was just scared to finally accept it. I thought maybe you wouldn't like me anymore."  
"I'll always be your best friend," Nilanjana tells him.  
"Good," Carlos replies, "I'll always be your best friend too."  
"I should hope so," Nilanjana mumbled. "I'm just gonna sleep here for the night," she adds, rolling over and pushing her face into the pillow.  
"Night, Nils," Carlos murmurs.  
"Night," she replies sleepily, just before she falls asleep.

Carlos is woken up in the morning by Nilanjana prodding his face repeatedly.  
"What?" he groans, running a hand through his hair.  
"Good morning!" she grins.  
"That is the last time I'm letting you stay in my room," he tells her, "I can't trust you to not wake me up early."  
"We have to start working today," she tells him, "Also, there's a glowing cloud out there that I thought you might want to take a look at."  
"A glowing cloud?" Carlos cries, sitting up instantly.  
"Yep!" she says happily, "It changes colour and makes a low whistling noise if you get too close to it!"  
"How do you already know that?" Carlos asks as he hops out of bed and stretches.  
"Your friend on the radio," she beams, "He's already reporting it."  
"Huh, I guess we've found a good news source then," Carlos smiles.

Nilanjana leaves the room, and once Carlos has changed he meets her in the kitchen.  
"Look!" she calls from her place near the window, and he hurries to join her. Peering out, he can see a cloud floating to the West, glowing with yellow light. As he watches, the light turns from yellow to blue, then to purple and then to green.  
"So weird," Carlos murmurs, "Could the cloud be made form a strange gas? It's not toxic, is it?"  
"There haven't been any reports of that yet," Nilanjana tells him, "Although apparently it has already caused one death. Cecil didn't say how though. He seemed reluctant to talk about it."  
"Strange," Carlos says, "We need to get out there and do some tests immediately!"  
"Are you talking about that cloud?" Rochelle asks as she comes in.  
"Yeah," Carlos replies.  
"It's definitely weird," adds another voice as the others all walk in one by one.  
"Then let's get to the lab and do some work!" Carlos declares excitedly.  
"Carlos, slow down," Nilanjana says kindly, "First: breakfast!"  
A cheer erupts as she pulls open a cupboard,and Carlos rolls his eyes fondly at them all.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group investigate the house that doesn't exist and the glow cloud causes chaos.

A while later, they head down into the lab, and begin to sort out jobs for the day.  
"I would quite like to get out and look at the earthquake monitoring station." Mark says, "We've been getting reports of earthquakes that no one seems to be able to feel."  
"I'll go with him!" Dave adds.  
"Okay, you two do that." Carlos decides, scribbling names down onto a sheet of paper, "Lusia, want to go check out the farms?  
"Sure!" she beams.  
"Okay, Nils and I want to have a look at the weird housing development, and we'll have a look at the glow cloud whilst we're out there. Rochelle, you coming with us?" Carlos asks.  
"Weird glowing cloud? I'm in!" she grins.  
"Cool," Carlos says, "Stab, what about you?"  
"I'm heading to the bowling alley, remember?" Stan reminds him, "I've got to look at this underground city they've apparently found,"  
"Oh yeah," Carlos remembers, "Okay, that's sorted. I'll meet you guys back here in a few hours."

They all head out into the town. Carlos, Nilanjana and Rochelle pile into Carlos's car, and drive out towards the Desert Creek housing development.  
"This p[lace really is weird," Nilanjana states as she peers out of the window.  
"Agreed," Rochelle laughs. At that moment the radio in the car crackles, scaring them. "Uh, don't make me listen to that again," Rochelle groans.  
"What?" Carlos asks, "It's just the radio>"  
"Yeah, I don't particularly fancy listening to the radio guy going on about you again," she replies with a roll of her eyes.  
"Rochelle!" Nilanjana hisses, twisting her head around to glare at the other woman, "We promised not to bring it up. Sorry," she adds to Carlos, "We guessed that you didn't want to talk about it, seeing as you've never brought it up."  
"Brought what up?" Carlos cries, getting more and more confused.  
"The fact that Cecil's always talking about you on his show," Rochelle says, as if it's obvious "He literally confessed his love for you yesterday live on air."  
"He did what?" Carlos practically screams, and the girls both get thrown sideways as he pulls the car over suddenly.  
"He said something about falling in love with you," Nilanjana explains once she's sat back up again, "It must have been just before you met him in the diner."  
Carlos sits in stunned silence for a second. "Well, that's..." he trails off.  
"Carlos?" Nilanjana asks as he falls silent.  
"You okay?" Rochelle adds, leaning over the back of Nilanjana's seat.

Carlos lets out a heavy sigh, and then leans forward and pulls out a stick of lavender gum from a small compartment in the front of the car. "Right," he says as he begins to think, "It's probably nothing. Maybe it's just a weird Night Vale tradition or something. Maybe he doesn't mean love in the same way we think he does."  
Rochelle and Nilanjana look at each other and shrug. "YEah maybe," Rochelle agrees.  
"I mean, he is pretty cute, isn't he?" Nilanjana asks, "Would it be such a bad thing if he did like you?"  
"This a work trip!" Carlos says, throwing his hand in the air in despair. "I'm not here to date people and muck around like this! I don't want to talk about this!" He puts his hands back on the steering wheel. "We need to get to this house, okay?"  
"Yes," Nilanjana says quickly, holding up one hand in Rochelle's direction to keep her quiet. "Let's get going."

They drive in silence. At one point Carlos had turned the radio off. Eventually, they reach the housing development, and Carlos pulled over at the side of the road.  
"Got the equipment?" Carlos asks as he hops out of the car.  
"Got it," Nilanjana replies, holding up a small cardboard box they brought with them.  
"Good," He replies shortly, before slamming his car door shut and striding towards the nearest row of houses.  
"Wow! Glow cloud!" Rochelle gasps suddenly as they walk. The other two spin around, to find her staring off in another direction, where the top of the Glow Cloud is just visible above rooftops.  
"It's heading our way," Nilanjana says, "We should have listened to the radio for updates about it."  
"Too late now," Carlos shrugs, "Let's just get this research done."  
"What are we even researching?" Rochelle asks, still glancing over her shoulder at the cloud, which is changing between different shades of yellow, purple and blue as it rolls through the sky.  
"Apparently one of the houses hear has been giving off weird results on several different tests," Carlos replies. "We're here to test it." He stops then, and points at a house. "That one."  
"SO, what are we actually looking at?" Rochelle asks, "Looks like an ordinary house to me."  
Yes, that's the thing," Carlos says, "It looks identical to all the others. But according to a few reports, it doesn't actually exist."  
"How is that possible?" Nilanjana mumbles, "The others must be wrong."  
"Perhaps!" Carlo grins, "That's what's exciting! We're doing world changing research here guys! The most important parts of our scientific careers so far!"  
"Carlos, calm down, you're talking too fast and loud!" Rochelle tells him.  
"Oh," he says, his shoulders sagging s;lightly. Nilanjana smiles at him, and moves to put a hand on his shoulder, but he flinches away from her touch.  
"Okay, sorry," she says, stepping back from him, "Don't worry about getting excited," she adds.  
"Right," Carlos says, reaching out and taking a few pieces of equipment from Nilanjana, "Let's do this!"  
***********  
"It makes no sense," Carlos mumbles an hour later. He's sat on the street, staring at the house and shaking his head in confusion. "The house doesn't exist."  
"Carlos, I think we should head home," Nilanjana says for the third time. "The glow cloud is getting closer and I'm pretty sure something's falling from it."  
"Yeah she's right," Rochelle agrees. Carlos glances up at the sky, narrowing his eyes.  
"Fine," he sighs, scooping up his things, "Let's go!" The girls help him pick things up, and then they all climb into the car. Seconds later, something hits the top of the car with a loud thump.  
"What was that?" Rochelle asks. She reaches out the open her door.  
"Don't go out there," Nilanjana says, "Can'r you hear that?" They all stop talking and listen. A low whistling could faintly be heard. "It's the glow cloud," Nilanjana tells them, "LEt's just drive."  
"What just landed on the roof though?" Rochelle cries.  
"Wait," Carlos murmurs, turning up the radio, "I just heard something about raining dead animals."  
"Gross!" Rochelle screams.  
"IS that even scientifically possible?" Carlos asks.  
"Please can we just drive?" Nilanjana repeats herself.  
"Yeah, let's go!" Carlos agrees as something falls onto the road in front of the car with a soft splat.

He backs the car out of the road, and begins to drive back towards the lab.  
"Something's definitely falling out of the sky," Rochelle says as she presses her head against the window. Nilanjana murmurs in agreement.  
"I hope the others are okay," Carlos mutters anxiously.  
"They'll be okay," Nilanjana tells him, passing another stick of gum to him quickly, "Let's just get home."  
Carlos nods, and turns the car down a road. As they drive, something suddenly lands on the front window, and Carlos swears loudly. As he tries desperately to get it off, the car swerves across the road.  
"Pull over! Pull over!" Rochelle screams as she's thrown sideways. Carlos swerves the car to the side of the road and stops.  
"What the hell is that?" Nilanjana yells as they peer at the black thing on the glass.  
"I think it's a crow. Or at least it was a crow once," Rochelle decides.  
"That's disgusting," Nilanjana mutters. 

Once the crow is off of the window, they pull back out onto the road and drive for a few more minutes until they reach the lab. Carlos parks outside, and they run towards the lab, narrowly avoiding a falling armadillo. Once they're inside safely, Carlos slams the door shut behind them.  
"What the hell just happened?" Rochelle screams.  
"Oh hi guys," Stan says, wandering down the stairs. "Did you get caught in the dead animal rain?"  
"Yeah," Nilanjana replies. "Pretty sure there's still stuff all over Carlos's car."  
"Cool!" Stan cries, "I'm going out to get samples!"  
"What?" Rochelle cries, but he's already racing out the front door. "He's so weird."  
"As long as he doesn't bring that anywhere near me I'm fine with it," Carlos laughs.  
"I need a drink," Rochelle sighs, striding towards the stairs.  
"It's only the afternoon!" Carlos calls after her.  
"I didn't necessarily say alcohol!" she calls back.  
"You implied it!" Carlos shouts. She shakes her head with a laugh and disappears out of view.

Carlos laughs softly, and begins to stack things away on shelves.  
"Carlos," Nilanjana says softly, "Do you want to talk about what happened earlier? You know, about Cecil."  
"No," he replies, picking up a pile of paper and moving it to another table. One piece falls and floats to the floor.  
"Okay," Nilanjana smiles, bending down and scooping the paper up. "I'm always here if you want to talk." "I know," Carlos says with a nod.

Later that night, Carlos finds himself sat alone in his room, flicking through a bunch of research from the day before. The door opens slightly, and then Nilanjana creeps in.  
"What's up?" Carlos asks, looking up.  
Nilanjana holds up a small radio. "I thought you might just want to listen, maybe."  
"Why? Carlos asks with a shrug.  
"Think of it as scientific research," Nilanjana said with a grin.  
"You want me to hear what Cecil's saying, don't you?" Carlos asks with a sigh, taking the radio. "Nils, I'm not hear in Night Vale to find a date."  
Nilanjana sits down gently on the end of his bed. "Sweetie, you are allowed to enjoy your time here as well as just working."  
"I don't want to date people here anyway," he replies, "I don't even know how long we'll be staying here for. I'm sick of short, failed relationships."  
Nilanjana smiles sympathetically and puts one arm around his shoulders. "I know your last relationships have been hard," she sighs, "but this could be the thing you've been looking for."  
Carlos sighs sadly, and fiddles with a bracelet on his wrist. "I guess," he sighs, "But I don't really know."  
Nilanjana pats his shoulder heavily and then stands up. "Have a good night," she smiles, and the disappears out of his room.


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning, Carlos wakes up and is instantly annoyed by how hot he is.  
"Still not used to this desert weather," he grumbles as he wanders into the kitchen.  
"Well you do have ridiculously long hair," Stan points out.  
"It needs a cut," Carlos agrees, running one hand through his long hair, "Maybe I'll walk into town today and see if there's a barber anywhere."  
"Sounds liked a good idea," Nilanjana says with a smile, passing a mug of coffee to him.  
"Thanks," Carlos says as he takes the coffee from her and takes a sip. Dave and Mark wander in at that point, arguing passionately about some sort of research they had done the day before.  
"I'm just saying, maybe the earthquakes are so deep underground that we can't feel them!" Dave argues.  
"Yes, but all the equipment picks it up!" Mark replies.  
"Our equipment can pick things up that humans can't feel," Dave points out as he pulls cereal out of the cupboard.  
"Those earthquakes were way too strong for humans not to feel though," Mark protests.  
"Can you guys not argue about science over breakfast?" Lusia asks eventually.  
"Yeah, we're all trying to eat in peace," Rochelle adds.  
"Fine," Dave sighs, sliding a bowl of cereal in Mark's direction.  
"Good," Lusia laughs.

Carlos heads out into the town later with Nilanjana and Lusia.  
"Do you think this even has a barber?" Nilanjana asks, "I mean that Steve guy looked like he'd cut his own hair."  
"There must be one," Carlos replies, "There's no way Cecil has such good hair without a barber's help."  
Nilanjana and Lusia glance at each other but say nothing.  
"Yeah, you're right," Lusia says eventually, "Maybe we should have asked if there was one around instead of just wandering aimlessly though."  
"This town isn't huge. If there's a barber we'll them eventually," Nilanjana says.  
"Sure," Lusia laughs.  
After a while of walking,they eventually find what appears to be a barber's. They all look at the strange shop, glance at each other, shrug, and then walk inside. Inside, a middle aged man looks over at them and instantly grins. "You must be Carlos, the new scientist." His accent is very thick.  
"Uh, yes," Carlos replies, "I need a haircut."  
"Oh, of course, come over," the man says, "My name is Telly." Carlos followed him over to a chair and sat down. "So, what hair cut do you want today?" He asks.  
"I want it short," Carlos sighs, "This desert is too hot and my hair grows too quickly."  
Telly nods, and goes about searching for a pair of scissors. Nilanjana and Lusia sit down nearby. 

After a few moments, Telly wanders over with a comb and a pair of scissors, and starts to look at Carlos's hair. As the barber picks up a strand of Carlos's hair, the scientist flinches. Instantly, Nilanjana jumps up and rushes over to stand nearby.  
"Everything okay?" Telly asks.  
"It's fine," Nilanjana replies. "You alright Carlos?"  
"Yes," Carlos says with a nod, "Just getting used to new barbers touching my hair, you know?" Nilanjana nods.  
"Okay, I'll carry on," Telly says, and picks up Carlos's hair to begin cutting it again. This time, Carlos manages to relax enough to let the barber to cut his hair. After a while, Telly wanders away for a second, and Nilanjana quickly passes a stick of gum to Carlos.  
"Thanks," Carlos grins, taking it gratefully. "Do you think I've had it cut too short?" He asks as he peers at the part of his hair that has been cut already.  
"Well, it is quite short," Lusia replies, "But your hair grows super quickly, it'll be back to it normal length pretty soon."  
"I guess," Carlos murmurs. Then Telly comes back over, and finishes cutting Carlos's hair.

They head back towards the lab half an hour later. Carlos can't stop running his hand over his hair and screwing his nose up at it.  
"Carlos, it'll grow back," Nilanjana sighs.  
"I hope so," Carlos says, "At least I'm not so hot anymore."  
"See, it is a good thing," Lusia smiles. They reach the lab, and wander inside.  
"Woah, where did all your hair go?" calls Dave from across the room. Carlos flinches back slightly.  
"It looks good, right?" Nilanjana smiles.  
"Yeah, it looks amazing. I just wasn't expecting it," Dave tells him. "It really suits you."  
"I'm growing it back," Carlos grumbles, "I hate this desert." He wanders away, muttering under his breath.  
"He's jut struggling to get used to it," Nilanjana tells Dave, and then rushes after Carlos.

"I do like it," Carlos says when Nilanjana finds him sitting in the kitchen, "I just need to get used to it."  
"I know," She replies, and sits down next to him, "Doing any science this afternoon?"  
"No," Carlos replies, "Haven't got much to do."  
"Rochelle said there was a strange report on the radio. Something about a creeping fear." Nilanjana tells him. Carlos shrugs and reaches towards the small radio in the corner. He turns it on, and they both listen as Cecil begins to talk.

"Is he talking about your hair cut?" Nilanjana asks as they sit and listen.  
"It's so weird," Carlos murmurs, "How does he know everything I do?"  
"Absolutely no idea," Nilanjana replies, "But he seems to be declaring war on the barber."  
"You see, this is why I don't want anything to do with him," Carlos sighs.  
"I mean... he obviously cares about you," Nilanjana says, "He probably just isn't good at showing that."  
At that moment the weather begins. "Why is the weather music here?" Carlos laughs.  
"Just another Night Vale thing I suppose," Nilanjana shrugs, "You want coffee?"  
"Yes," Carlos decides, moving away from the radio to help her get the coffee ready. 

As Nilanjana carries on making coffee, the weather ends, and Carlos focuses on the radio show again.  
"I come to you live from under my desk, where I dragged my microphone and am currently hiding in the fetal position," Cecil's voice says from the radio, sounding slightly scared.  
Instantly, Carlos spins towards the radio in alarm, focusing intently on what Cecil's saying.  
"Everything okay?" Nilanjana asks, wandering over and placing a mug in front of him.  
"Sshh," Carlos hisses, leaning closer to the radio.  
"I am going to see if I can make a break for the door," Cecil whispers, "If you don’t hear from me again, it has truly been a pleasure.Good night, Night Vale. And goodbye!"  
The radio shuts off, with a loud crackling noise. "Is he okay?" Nilanjana whispers after a second of stunned silence.  
"Yeah," Carlos says as if trying to convince himself, "He has to be okay. Right?"  
"I guess," Nilanjana replies, "His station management won't really kill him. Will they?"  
Carlos shrugs, "It'll be fine. I don't know why I'm even worried." He picks up his mug of coffee and stands up, "I'm going to... I don't know, I'm just..." he walks away quickly.  
"Carlos, wait!" Nilanjana cries, rushing after him.

Carlos wandered into his own room and sat down on the end of his bed. He sighed as he put down his mug of coffee. In his head, he was trying to deal with his own emotions. HE shouldn't be so worried about some guy who had been pretty much stalking him since he arrived.  
"Carlos," Nilanjana calls, stepping into his room slowly, "Are you okay?"  
"I'm fine," he replies, trying to sound as positive as possible.  
"Worried about Cecil?" She asks.  
"Yeah," Carlos admits, flopping backwards. "But I shouldn't be! I've never even had a [proper conversation with him! And he's so weird!"  
"You don't like feeling this way about him?" Nilanjana asks.  
"Obviously," he scoffs. They sit for a second, and then Carlos adds, "You wouldn't like it if you had strange feelings for someone that you didn't even properly know."  
"Happens to me all the time," she laughs.  
"Yeah but I'm not like you," Carlos replies, "I have to get to know people before I like them. This isn't normal for me."  
"I know," Nilanjana says, "But it's okay to have weird feelings for people sometimes."  
"I guess," Carlos replies with a shrug, "But, it's not like Cecil's exactly normal, is he?"  
"You told me before we came here that you were bored of living such a normal life. Your trip here is supposed to be a chance to do something new and exciting!"   
Carlos sighs and rolls over onto his stomach. "Maybe."  
"You know what we should do?" Nilanjana says, "Go and get pizza."  
"Sounds like a plan," Carlos grins, "Let's go ask the others!"


	9. Chapter 9

After struggling to deal with the strange people in Big Rico's Pizza, Carlos and Nilanjana manage to bring pizza back to the lab for everyone.  
"Pizza's here!" Nilanjana shouts as they walked into the kitchen. Almost instantly, the other scientists seem to appear from nowhere.  
"Yes, pizza," Rochelle mutters happily.  
"Smells so good," Stan adds, swooping over holding plates.  
"We got a bunch of different pizzas so take whatever you want," Nilanjana explains, taking a plate and then grabbing a few slices of pizza.  
"I approve of this pizza party," Dave says, biting into a slice of pizza, "We should do this all the time."  
"Agreed, this should be like a monthly thing," Lusia adds.  
Carlos grins as he watches them all relax and chat amongst themselves. He grabs a few slices of pizza and sits down next to Nilanjana.  
"Good pizza," Nilanjana says as he sits down.  
Carlos takes a bite and then nods, "Yep, very good pizza."  
"We're lucky to live next to a pizza place," Nilanjana mutters through a mouthful of pizza.

Later that night, heads off to his room early, tired. He flops backwards onto his bed, and then glances over at the radio. There's been no news of what happened to Cecil. He lies there for a few minutes thinking about it, and then rolls over and grabs his phone. After a quick search he finds the radio station's phone number.  
The phone rings for a few seconds, and then someone picks up. There is a gurgled, snarling sound, and then a young voice says, "Hello, Night Vale Community Radio.You're speaking to a radio intern. How can I help?"  
"Hi, I was just calling to see if everything was okay after today's broadcast," Carlos says, hoping his voice won't be recognised.  
"Ah yes, everything's fine, station management have been contained," the intern replies.  
"And, uh, Cecil?" Carlos continues.  
"Perfectly fine!" the intern answers, "He'll be on air as usual tomorrow!"  
"Oh that's good!" Carlos smiles, feeling relief wash over him instantly.   
"Who is this calling by the way?" the intern asks, as if they've only just remembered to.  
"Oh, never mind," Carlos says, and hangs up.

He rolls back over onto his bed and grins up at the ceiling. Somehow, just knowing that Cecil isn't injured makes him feel so happy. He lays there for a few minutes, thinking about everything, until there's a knock on his door.  
"Carlos, you awake still?" Nilanjana calls softly.  
He sits up, tries to put on a straight face, and then calls back, "Yep, come in."  
She pushes the door open and walks in, "Just checking if you were okay. You disappeared pretty quickly."  
"Yeah, I was just tired," he says.  
"Yet you're still awake," she points out, sitting down by his feet.  
"Yeah... Uh... I called the radio station," he admits.  
"Oh? Why?" She asks.  
Carlos lets out a long sigh, "To see if Cecil was okay," he groans. "I feel like an idiot for doing it now."  
Nilanjana smiles kindly and asks, "Is he okay?"  
"Yeah," Carlos says, and he suddenly can't keep himself from smiling. He grins widely and lets out a giggle.  
"Carlos, sweetie, I know you probably don't want to hear this but... The guy's head over heels in love with you. And you quite clearly have some sort of feelings for him. Why don't you try meeting up with him or something? Not necessarily a date, just a meetup so you get a chance to know him better."  
"Maybe I should," Carlos agrees, "But how?"  
"I don't know. Go and do some research at the radio or something like that. Make up any excuse, Cecil won't question it." Nilanjana suggests.  
"That't not a bad idea," Carlos says. "Nils, will you please not tell the others about this for now?"  
"Sure," she smiles, "You wanna come back out and join the rest of us? Rochelle found some cards and we were going to play some games."  
"Alright," he replies.  
Nilanjana smiles. "It's good to see you feeling a bit happier. You've been a lot calmer since we moved here."  
Carlos shrugs. "I guess I just needed a chance to get away from everything."  
"Yeah, you probably did," Nilanjana replies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tiny chapter because at this point I;m just thinking up the storyline as I go along. There'll be more soon anyway so enjoy!


End file.
